Improved washing-machine



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

P. H. HARDY, OF TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA.

IMPROVED WASHING-MACHINE.`

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 56,215, dated July 10, 1866.

To all whom it 'may concern.-

Be it known that I, P. H. HARDY, of Terre Haute, in the county of Vigo and State of Indiana, have invented a new and Improved Washing-Machine; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled inthe art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming -part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal section in the vertical plane y, Fig. 2, of a washing-machine made according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-section in the vertical plane x, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The object of this invention is economy in construction and ease in the management and operation of washing-machines, and also the preventing .of injury to clothes from too violent action of the rubbers or beaters.

The letter A designates a washing-machine having feet at its corners which support it above the ground. lts ends have cross-pieces F F, which serve as handles so as to make it portable. Its cover B is hinged at J J at one end, while at the other it has a wooden catch or latch which is capable of being moved horizontally on a pivot so as to become engaged with a notch in the raised part L of the frame of the machine.

The outlines of the machine are rectangular both within and without, but it has a false corrugated bottom, G, which is curved, with a radius whose center of motion is in the middle of the cover B.

The under side ot' the curved bottom is near to the real bottom of the machine at its center' or lower part, rising thence toward its ends, which come in contact with the ends of the box to which the false bottom is securely attached.

The space between the two bottoms `is marked H, and` water and suds are allowed to enter it from the side or sides of the bottom G, the dirt and heavy refuse matter being collected there, where they are not liable to be again brought into contact with the clothes in the machine. This space His emptied and the liquid contents of the machine drawn oft' through an opening in space Hwhich can 4be closed by the plug I.

The beater of the machine consists of a series of arms, D, which hang down from a bar, lVI, within theV machine. The top of this bar has a handle, C, fast to it at the middle of its length, which handle goes up through a slot in the center of cover B, in which it is pivoted, so that it can have motion to the right and left, observing Fig. l.

The interior of the machine has two false sides, E E, which slide in angular grooves made in the opposite sides of the machine, and which are provided with openings or handholes near their upper edges, `so that they can be drawn out at pleasure.

When the false sides are in their places the part of the machine in which the beaters move is of an irregular form, its bottom being the curved false bottom which forms a surface commonly called the wash-board, its sides being the two triangular sliding pieces E E, and its top being the middle portion of the horizontal cover. From this construction it follows that when the beaters or dashers D are moved by their handle C to. and fro the clothes in the machine will bc forced against theI sides E E in alternation and the water and suds squeeed out, and when the beaters retire the clothes will fall upon the bottom Gr, to be again saturated with water and suds. The angular sides are nearly in radial lines from the center of motion of the beaters, and therefore present broad surfaces to the action of the beaters when they dash the clothes from end to end of the machine. When the cover is lifted the beaters are raised out of the machine and the interior is made entirely accessible.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The combination ot' the corrugated false bottom G, the movable side pieces, E E, set in angular grooves, and the beaters D, movable from a point in the cover B, substantially as described.

P. H. HARDY.

Witnesses:

SAML. B. ADAMS, SAMUEL ARCHER. 

